My next charater

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OK, I'm about 2/3 through the main quest line, and I'm planning my next character. (Note: according the Skyrim Wiki, the main quest line is broken down into three main acts. So I'm assuming I'm 2/3 of the way through, although I have no way of knowing of all three of the acts are approximately of equal length. The first Act is from the beginning of the game to the retrieval of the horn, the second Act is from that point to the acquisition of the Elder Scroll, and the final act is from that point to the end of the game.) My suspicion is that because I've already completed most of the optional quests I wish to complete, that I actually may be more than 2/3 of the way through.

Anyway, the game has a ton of replayability, simply because there is so much stuff I haven't done yet. In addition to who knows how many mini-quests and dungeons I've done, the only "big quests" I've done are the Companions and the Reunification of Skyrim quests (preceded by the join the Imperial Legion). So that means at a minimum I've skipped some major quests with this character - the Dark Brotherhood, The Thieves' Guild, the College of Winterhold, and the Bards College. That doesn't include a TON of side quests that I'm sure can be found in many cities. (I only own two homes - and presumably you can become a Thane in all the major cities.)

A long-winded means of saying that while I enjoyed my tanky fighter, I enjoyed getting used to the controls, and I like the game, I'm ready for a different character. This fighter I planned out was essentially "done" at level 40 - by design. Even though I knew that most people got to around level 50 doing the game, I didn't want anything too ambitious. The only perks remaining that I really would like to have are the ones that are available at skill level 100 in Heavy Armor, One Handed, and Blocking. And given that all of those skills are currently around level 90 and increasing slowly, I only really "need" 3 more levels to be all the way done. Any other perks will get dumped into archery, just because that's the only other thing I can fathom ever wanting to use.

So (finally) here's the plan for my next character, that is much more ambitious, simply because it requires a LOT of perks in a LOT of different trees, but is very thief oriented. It's a two-phased character. The first phase is "done" around level 30 - that will give me a playable character, but the second phase won't be done until nearly level 60. I'm going to try and max both smithing and alchemy, although I won't be getting all the perks in the smithing tree - just the ones for light armors.

Build:

Let's get the offense out of the way first:

Archery - the final build will probably get all the perks, but the phase one build requires just 7 perks. Everything you can get with a slvl 50 in archery, except Hunter's Discipline. (I've never run out of arrows - they weigh nothing so there's little incentive to not carry a lot, and if you have to drop down to a lower grade for a while, so be it.)

Base 7, Total 16.

One-Handed - Since I will use bows primarily, I only need a few points here to take care of stuff that gets close. I don't expect to have a high skill level here until quite late in the game, which is why the base build only requires a skill level of 30. Just the first two ranks of Armsman, and Dual Flurry. (I'd like two in Dual Flurry, but the second rank requires more skill than I'll likely have in the early going.

Base 3, Total 8 (eventually)

Sneak - Is the heart of the build, although with so many other things demanding early attention, I'm going to limit my early perk investment here. I need everything you can get up the sneak level 50, except Light Foot and Silent Roll that can be picked up later.

Base 7, Total 13 (probably the first skill to max, or get close to maxing, besides the crafting skills)

Light Armor - just a touch - and this was a big mistake in not investing anything in my first character. That said, since I'm not planning on getting hit a lot, the early development requires low skill levels - 40 specifically. The first three ranks in Agile Defender, and Custom Fit.

Base 4, Total 10 (I guess all of them theoretically - if I ever get to that high of a level.

Pickpocket - I noticed with my first character that even a little investment in pickpocket makes the going a lot easier. I'll need Cutpurse to steal back the gold I use for later training (in things like light armor - not a skill you want to level through wear and tear) so just that and the two prerequisites, Light Fingers, and Night Thief.

Base 3, Total 3

Alchemy and Smithing - Grouped together because the plan is the same. Smithing only requires 6 total perks, and I'll pick them up as they become available. Alchemy requires all 15, and I plan on picking all of them up as they become available, although 9 will be needed to be able make effective poisons for my arrows, so alchemy will be prioritized over smithing (I can get by with my dark brotherhood/thieves guild/nightingale armor early on, and since I think they all count as "enchanted" armor, I wouldn't be able to upgrade until much later anyway.

Smithing Base 0, total 6
Alchemy Base 9, total 15

So adding it up, I need 33 perks for a fully functional character that can do everything I "need" him to do. But to really get to the point where I want, I'll need more like 60, and if this character lasts long enough, I could add some frills all the way up around level 70. (I don't necessarily "need" things like Hunter's Discipline and Ranger. Dual Savagery necessarily won't be available until very late. After the base 4 in Light Armor, the other 6 can be put off indefinitely, and I'll never have to stick more than 1 in Experimenter until I'm just looking for something to plunk a point into.)

But is this too ambitious? It may be a bit hard in the early going...

 

My current character is a sneaky archer, but it is really easy, very little can survive 1 hit from a sneak critical arrow, and if youve got alot vested in sneak, it is really hard for an enemy to detect you.

kinda something like this:

 

This is actually quite similar to the character I want to try next. Like you I started with a melee heavy character that was really good fun for smashing his way through monsters and bandits but I fancy a change. The only difference for me is I want to avoid smithing this time. My last character was creating all his own weapons and armour and it kind of made me less excited about finding equipment in the world.

 

I won't be abandoning smithing, although with the changes to the latest patch, even if I was trying to prioritize it, it would be a much longer process. That said, even with the base build of 33 perks, I'm trying to cut down. (It takes quite some time to earn that many, and at the very least, I need further prioritization in where I place the points.)

My initial thinking of where I can save some points would be to the stealth perks. Instead of placing a point in stealth as soon as I have the points, I'm now thinking that just a single point in stealth should be adequate for a long time. The first perk is a 20% improvement to sneaking, while the other four are just 5%. So the first one is worth as big of a bonus as the next 4 combined. This is different from Overdraw, which gives an equal 20% bonus with each point, and therefore deserves prioritization.

EDIT: So I'm not set on how I'm spending my perks yet. Obviously, having a plan for level 33 is great and all once you get to level 33, but getting to level 33 will be a lot easier if you spend your points wisely.

My initial thoughts for levels 1-10, which you can get to easily no matter how you spend your points: Overdraw 1 and 2, Eagle Eye, Stealth 1, Muffled Movement, Backstab, Deadly Aim, Agile Defender 1, Armsman 1. That is obviously focusing on getting the most out of my bow in the early going. Faendal may be required to help out my archery for a while.

Levels 11-15 will improve my archery further. Overdraw 3, Steady Hand, Critical Shot, Power Shot, with Alchemist 1 thrown in there somewhere.

After that, I'll have to pick up Light Fingers, Steel Smithing, Elven Smithing, and Dual Flurry. That should be adequate to make this character functional for the first 20 or so levels.